Lifetime Friendships through Travel (El Carmen, Perú)

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Lifetime Friendships through Travel (El Carmen, Perú)

El Carmen de Chincha, Perú

As a traveler (not a tourist), I prefer to stay away from tourist attractions and activities and be among the everyday people of the places I visit. This, in my opinion, is the best way to experience the real culture; particularly if you want to master the language. In my case, Spanish.

Years ago, I was astonished to learn from an article I read that there are more black Latinos in the Americas than there are black gringos. What surprises me to the point of frustration is that too many Latinos I meet, from New York to California, do not know about the blacks in their own communities who speak Spanish as their first language. What a shame as they, of all people, should know better.

Before making my first trip to Perú in 2005, I got the phone number from a travel guide of Peru's famous Ballumbrosio family (above), of whom the patriarch, the late-great maestro violinist Amador Ballumbrosio, helped to revive and popularize Afro-Peruvian music. I picked up the phone, called and told them I needed a place to stay. Amador Ballumbrosio's daughter Maribel was so loving over the phone that my heart was deeply touched. I made the reservation to rent a room from the family, got clear directions from the Airport to their home in El Carmen.

Adelina, the wife of the late, great Amador. We are celebrating her birthday

I care for my goddaughter Daniela (far right front, by the window) so much that I often invite her friends, family, and neighbors to participate in activities I plan for her. In this photo, I rented a van and took everyone pictured to the beach in Chincha, Perú.